Fewer Teens Are Vaping, But Those Who Do Find It Harder to Quit

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A new study published in JAMA Network Open looked at trends in youth nicotine vaping from 2020 to 2024, surveying more than 115,000 students in grades eight through 12 across the U.S. Investigators found that while overall vaping rates have slightly decreased, those who continue to vape are doing so more frequently — and finding it harder to quit.

Even though youth vaping has gone down in recent years, about 1.6 million U.S. kids and teens still vaped nicotine in the past month in 2024. Experts are worried because the teens who continue to vape seem to be using more heavily — many are vaping every day — and often have other mental or behavioral health challenges. This pattern suggests they may be becoming more addicted and harder to help quit.

This trend is called “hardening,” which means that as fewer people vape or smoke overall, the ones who continue are often the most dependent and the hardest to treat. Understanding whether this is happening among teens — and which groups are most at risk — can help shape better prevention programs and support for quitting.

“A previous study found that the number of nicotine vaping days per month and use of nicotine vaping within five minutes of waking increased among U.S. youths between 2014 and 2021, suggestive of hardening,” lead investigator Abbey R. Masonbrink, M.D., M.P.H., research director, Division of Hospital Medicine, and associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, noted.

In the current study, the share of young people who reported vaping daily nearly doubled from 15% in 2020 to 29% in 2024 among current vapers. Even more concerning, unsuccessful quit attempts rose from 28% to 53% during that same time. These trends suggest that today’s youth vaping population is becoming more nicotine-dependent and resistant to quitting — similar to what has been observed in long-term cigarette smokers.

Although overall vaping has gone down, the decline was slower among certain groups, including female individuals, Black youth and those who also use cannabis or other tobacco products. Rural students, in particular, showed the largest increase in daily vaping rates.

The team of investigators caution that these findings indicate a hardening of the youth vaping population, where those who continue to vape are more dependent on nicotine and more likely to struggle with quitting. This shift underscores the need for stronger support systems for youth who want to stop vaping — and for awareness among parents, teachers, clinicians and policy makers that vaping can quickly become a serious addiction.

Investigators noted that the study has a few limitations to keep in mind. The information came from students reporting their own vaping habits, which can sometimes be inaccurate. The teams also didn’t look at whether more teens are successfully quitting vaping over time. In some years during COVID-19, surveys were shortened or completed online, which could have affected the results. However, the researchers believe this impact was small because the 2020 group still looked similar to earlier groups, and even with online surveys — where teens might be less likely to report vaping — daily vaping and failed quit attempts still went up.

“In this cross-sectional study of U.S. youths, we found a trend of hardening among youths who vape nicotine, highlighting the need for expansion of evidence-based prevention and cessation programs, particularly for certain subpopulations identified as at disparate risk,” investigators concluded.